Worried Newbie! Looking for better diet. Help!

Hi All! So glad I found this. My10 year old Siamese mix just got diagnosed with diabetes and I am happy to find a support group. It all started with him walking on his hocks which led me to some researching. I took him to the vet and I was surprised when the tech there didnt know what I was talking about when I tried to explain the symptoms. Long story short, they ran a urine and blood test and his sugar was high. So now I am concerned with changing his diet. He was eating Nutro Max dry food and the vet recommended Hill's diet, but the first ingredient is chicken by product! Seems like there are better options. I've been researching and Evo has 88% protein with actual chicken as the first ingredient. What do you guys feed your cat?

 

Good morning and welcome to FDMB.

Evo is a better choice, however, the best one is to remove all dry food from your cat's diet. Dry food is high in carbs. Evo, is lower than most brands and you can use it while transitioning your cat to canned food. For canned food, many of us feed our cats either Fancy Feast or Friskies pate flavors. Avoid anything with gravy.

If your vet has not already done so, he needs to run a fructosomine test to confirm the diagnosis. I also suggest that you learn to hometest. This means using a human glucose meter and testing a little drop of blood, taken from the ear. It sounds worse than it really is. Most cats are not even bothered by it. An inexpensive meter, that is very good is the Walmart Relion meters. The Confirm and Micro take less blood. You want to test before feeding.

Has your vet prescribed insulin yet? If not, good insulins are Lantus, Levemir, PZI and Prozinc. The first two are human insulins. Most cats respond well to either one of these. If your vet prescribes either one of these, ask for the prescription for the pens instead of vials. The other two are pet insulins and work well also. You can only get these through your vet's office. For either insulin, you want to start at a low dose, 1 unit twice a day.

Receiving a diagnosis of feline diabetes is scary and overwhelming at first. But it is very manageable with a proper diet, hometesting and insulin. If you have not already started doing this, begin reading through the posts. Ask any questions you may have. We have all been where you are now and are here to help guide you through this journey.

 

Lisa is correct - dry food diets are bad for kitties for many reasons. They are high carb (even the EVO is 18% carb) and the dry food is very bad for the Urinary Tract and the powder can even stick to the teeth and cause dental issues.

I transitioned all of my kitties off of dry food and on to canned food only. It is recommended for diabetic kitties especially. We use the food chart developed by Dr. Lisa Pierson to figure out food choices - food chart

 

Thank you RobinCot and LIsa for your replies! Yes, my cat is already on ProZinc. We are scheduled to go in for the glucose curve this weekend.

 

You might even take a canned food and bake it dry in order to transition to a wet, low carb diet.

 

A vet has info on a wet diet here. www.catinfo.org. With ideas for transitioning.

We developed a protocol for ProZinc here

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=109077

We urge you to test at home. It's easier on your pocketbook, less stress for the cat and more accurate. (stress raises blood glucose levels and most cats are stressed at the vet. Doses based on those inflated levels can be too high once the cat gets home). Knowing what the level is before each shot and how low the insulin takes him midcycle is a great relief for you to have, and the best way to keep him safe.

We've taught hundreds of people how to test at home and would be glad to teach you.

Let us know how else we can help.

 

Hows the food transition going?

 

Thank u Sue!!
My cat already eats 3oz FF A day. So what I'm gathering here is that I should have him eat this for all his meals and no dry food at all?

I'm looking into getting a relion to test him. The vet wanted 400 bucks for a glucose curve!

 

That is a ridiculous price! You can easily do that at home. Here is a shopping list:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. Some members stay away from any meter with True in the name and the Freestyle meters. Some people think they are unreliable and read lower than other meters. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking. You can also use a prescription bottle filled with very warm water. It provides a good surface to poke against.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats

How to get the cat ready for home testing

First pick a place where you want to test. Some people use the kitchen counter, a blanket on the floor, between your legs while sitting – whatever works for you. Take the kitty there and give him/her lots of praise while you play with his/her ears. Give a treat and release. Next time, add the rice sack (thin sock filled with raw rice, heated in the microwave until very warm but not hot) or a prescription pill bottle filled with very warm water. Lots of praise, treat and release. Finally add the lancet so he/she will get used to the noise. The hope is that when you finally poke, they will be used to the process and know a treat is coming!

It would be better if you were hometesting before completely switching to wet. The numbers can really drop when you take away the dry. With our Oliver, he went dwon 100 points from pmps to amps. If we had given him the usual amount, he would have hypoed.

 

The WalMart ReliOn brand incudes these meters:
Confirm -------- smallest blood drop
Confirm Micro - smallest blood drop
Prime - least expensive strips

The unbranded versions of the Confirm are the Glucocard 01 and the Glucocard 01 Mini from our shopping partner ADW (see SHOP link at top of page; purchases help support the site)

 

Thank u so much Sue! I am really nervous about poking his ears! I'm going to have to check out some videos. I truly appreciate u outlining the procedures.

 

If you are looking for some dry food, Wysong Epigen is zero carb.